Slice of Paradise

This part of Australia, the northern beaches of Cairns and the surrounding areas, is so idyllic, this is the only way I can describe it. We saw everything from the reef to the rainforest in such a short time. We rode on a catamaran, a train, and a skyrail cable car. We petted koalas, kangaroos, cockatoos and experienced culture while having dinner with aboriginal people. I'm not sure what else you could ask for in an adventure. And to top it all off, we beat the Christmas rush! The weather there was warm, but not too hot for me. The humidity was high, but I think I'm even getting used to that! We had some early/late showers, but it never rained on us while we were out and about. Stunning, absolutely stunning...

Cairns and Kuranda

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

I wish these pictures would be able to show more of how much I enjoyed our trip yesterday. Sadly, I didn't do the best job taking photos. Annette bought an underwater camera but will need to get the film developed before we have any of those pictures available. I was a bit nervous to go in the water, because I haven't really enjoyed previous salt water experiences in the past. But I was determined to try this once in a lifetime opportunity. George was a great swim buddy for the day and we did see some great coral and fish. There wasn't anything super exciting in the water that we saw, but for a first time snorkeler like me, I couldn't get enough. The water was clear and warm. The coral reef was amazing. There were coral of every color and shape. The best thing about the coral is that it is named as whatever it resembles above the water surface, for example we saw corals called brain, mushroom, staghorn, Christmas tree...
I thoroughly enjoyed the snorkeling experience and I won't be afraid again to try it if I get another chance. We had 3 hours of exploring underwater and I spent almost every minute in the sea.

Today (Sunday here) we decided to take a day off from touring. The environment here is amazing. I've been sitting outside a cafe in Palm Cove for nearly 3 hours, sorting out pictures to share. I've had a soy latte. I get distracted by every wave that rolls into shore. The sky is blue, but there are big gray clouds all around. Here it rains every morning and evening (must be seasonal). The temperature is balmy and breezy, perfect for sitting at an outdoor cafe like I've found. Tourist season picks up next week, so we pretty much have the whole place to ourselves. The internet connection is painfully slow, but what's the rush? The only thing I'm even tempted to do is to run into the sea and splash around, but without the stinger suit, I'm afraid for that. The stinger nets are placed on each beach for a small protected swimming area, but ours is about 1 km down the beach. For now I'll just enjoy the lush vegetation and the stunning view. Until it's time for lunch...hopefully that will be soon ;)

Great Barrier Reef

Sydney and Surrounds

It's hard to gather enough words to give justice to the gorgeous time we had in Sydney. We spent the better part of 3 days exploring our suburb and the city. It was amazing just experiencing the city at our own pace. No agendas, no tours...just our maps and some helpful advice from tour books, family and friends. We had really nice weather too. It only threatened to rain, but never really managed to spit out more than a few drops. We really managed to see a lot in our short time there, without feeling rushed. And staying with Annette's family (they are so gracious!) and meeting up with my friend Markus (my RA from U of A) helped me not feel like a tourist but more like a local. Sydney really is stunning.

Sydney Favourites

What in the World?

...is Krissy doing in Australia with her brother in law, George, you might be asking yourself at the moment?
Honestly, I think I probably have some disease...maybe suitcase-packing-travel-mania. But, since I'm here, I'll try to make the best of it :)
Australia is a nice place, so far. It was always someplace I thought I'd like to go, far far away, but the people I knew from here had been nice. It wasn't a hard trip getting here. I actually got 7 hours of sleep on the flight. Then, we hit the ground running with George's friends Mike and Annette. Mike had a business trip to Melbourne that he was going to combine with a visit to Sydney to visit Annette's aunt. George was invited and I invited myself to accompany George. I was just joking when I said it, but he said sure I could come along. What a great guy he is. We are having a lovely time, and I hope that we'll get to see a lot more now that we're in Sydney and have a great home base to stage our days from.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend in Melbourne.

Melbourne Highlights